


probabilities

by ednae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Frog Prince AU, Gay, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Slav POV, i can't believe shlav is canon, let me live, this is really short but i wrote it in one sitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 21:58:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10475322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ednae/pseuds/ednae
Summary: of all the hearts in all the universes in all the realities, he jumps into mine.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [deerdelmar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerdelmar/gifts), [QueenOfPixies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfPixies/gifts).



Slav was walking outside his castle, the brisk evening air mingling with the soft din of the gala inside.  Slav had left the party early, finding the entire ordeal far too overwhelming for 86% of his sensibilities.  In about three hundred forty-six other realities, he'd be having the time of his life, but then again, those three hundred forty-six realities wouldn't have such slippery flooring or pointy shoes or loud, eardrum-bursting music.

So he scurried along the cobblestone pathways of his castle garden, avoiding the cracks that would almost certainly break his the back of his mother, the queen.  He was far from ready to take the throne just yet.

As he moved further and further away from the castle, the raucous noises of the party gave way to the pleasant natural tones of the night.  The trees far overhead his small, noodly body rustled in the soft wind that caressed his chin antennae.  The nearby pond lapped gently at the shore, while crickets chirped their midnight song.  A lone frog croaked bleakly against the nighttime chatter, and Slav found himself drawn to its weary cry.

As the pond came into view, Slav made sure to circle around any puddles he came across.  He may have learned to swim in this reality, but the countless others where he drowned in the shallow water left him weary of what could happen.  There was still a 60% chance of him drowning in this reality if he was too careless.

The moonlight reflected off of the waters and lit up his surroundings enough that he could see the scattered lily pads floating on the deep blue surface.  Atop one of those pads sat a bright pink flower, and next to it, the source of the croaking.

"Hello, little frog," Slav said, bending down as far as he dared to greet the amphibious creature.  He thought about all the realities in which he had stayed inside the castle, never to meet this tiny black and purple frog.  He was grateful to be in this reality.

The frog didn't respond with a croak, but truthfully, Slav wasn't expecting him to.  He was, after all, just a frog.

His beady black eyes seemed to follow him as he sat down on the ledge of a waist-high wall near the pond.  The frog leapt from one lily pad to another, until he was close enough for Slav to see the details of his beautiful, slimy body.  The slick, black skin was dotted with irregular circular patterns of bright purple, contrasting to starkly with the midnight atmosphere that Slav felt his breath nearly taken away by the sight of the frog's beauty.

"Aren't you a handsome fellow?" he said with a grin.  He didn't dare reach out for the frog, no matter how much he wanted to, for there was over a 89% chance that he would fall into the pond and drown.  He couldn't risk that, not on such a magical night.

"Thank you," came a voice, startling Slav out of his reverie.  The voice was soft and silky, yet deep and masculine, a powerful, commanding sound that made Slav's heart soar immediately.

"Who said that?" Slav demanded, whipping his entire noodle body around (since he lacked a neck) in search of the voice's owner.

"Er, down here," came the sexy, sensuous voice yet again, and slowly, Slav turned until he was face-to-face with the frog once again.

"You?" Slav asked, raising both eyebrows.  He'd seen weirder things—his own mother, for example—but he certainly hadn't expected to meet a talking frog tonight.

"Yes, _me_ ," the frog answered, its beady eyes somehow becoming more hostile and frustrated as he answered.

"Of all the realities I could have lived, this is certainly the weirdest," Slav mused, rubbing one of his hands along his chin antennae.

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean," the frog admitted.  He hopped forward again and again, crossing the pond with fluid ease until he reached the edge of the water.  With one more powerful leap, he jumped toward the wall where Slav sat, his powerful, mighty frog legs stretched out in a graceful arc.  Slav was mesmerized by the motion.

He landed with a wet _plop_ right next to Slav and looked up at him.  Slav was so used to being among the shortest of his peers; it was unsettling for him to finally be looking down on someone.

"So," Slav said, drumming all thirty-two of his fingers together, "what's your name?  That is, if you have one in this reality."

The frog sat for a minute before leaping directly into Slav's lap.  "My name is Shiro," he said in his melodic voice.  "In…all realities, I hope."

Slav laughed good-naturedly.  "There's always that one reality where everything is exactly what you'd least expect.  Or rather, there are several, since you wouldn't expect there to be multiple of those kinds of realities.  Then there's the reality where all language is just 'butts.'  That's the most confusing one I've encountered by far."

"Butts…" Shiro repeated, his tone a mixture of awe and disgust.

Slav shrugged.  "But that reality is not this reality, though there is still a 32% chance that it could become this reality within a moment's notice.  But I'd rather not dwell on that for fear of the 93% chance that I would certainly pass out from the overwhelming existential dread that would fill me in at least seven hundred different realities, including this one."

Shiro the frog was quiet for a moment, presumably trying to process everything.  When he spoke, it was hesitant and soft, but no less alluring.  "You certainly…have a way with words."

"Only in about sixty-two realities," Slav corrected.  "In the others, I find it hard to articulate myself.  Why, in a reality where I'm just a prisoner and you're my heroic savior, you probably would have gotten fed up with me by now."

Shiro let out a low hum, musical even when flat and toneless.  "I doubt that."

"It's true," Slav lamented.  "Some people actually find me… _overbearing_."

"Well, I don't," Shiro said, conviction laced within every phoneme.  He began to climb up each of Slav's right arms, hopping up the four tiers until he was nestled comfortably atop Slav's uppermost arm.

"Do you mean that?" Slav asked softly, afraid that Shiro was just pulling one of his short, green legs.

"Of course.  You're very knowledgeable," Shiro assured him, patting his arm with tiny, black, webbed feet.

"No one has ever said that before," Slav said, looked away from Shiro's black, soulful eyes and toward the singing willows in the distance.  "They all just think I'm annoying."

"You could never be annoying," Shiro replied, nuzzling further into Slav's embrace.

Emotion welled up in Slav's throat, choking him with the affection that surged throughout his body.  His large, round eyes prickled with the threat of tears, and he blinked quickly to clear the feeling.  He coughed, trying to dislodge his throat, and whispered a thick, "Thank you."

"I know…" Shiro started, but he soon trailed off with a heavy sigh.  Slav looked back at the small frog, but he wouldn't meet his eyes.  Another sigh, and then: "I know…I'm just a frog, and we just met and all…"

"There's nothing wrong with being a frog, you know," Slav said, sliding one of his fingers under Shiro's amphibious chin and lifting it to meet his gaze.  "In any reality."

"It's hard to believe that sometimes," Shiro admitted, but he didn't look away.  He kept his black eyes trained on Slav's ruby red irises, until Slav's overwhelming surge of affection became a gentle thrum beneath his skin.

"Then let me convince you," Slav said, almost too quiet for even himself to hear.  He bent his head low, stooping down to meet Shiro's wet, bumpy lips.  His orange beak nuzzled softly against the frog, but he was careful not to engulf Shiro in its size.

The kiss lasted only a moment before Slav pulled away, a deep green flush settling over his cheeks.  In almost every other reality, he would never have acted so brashly.  But then, in almost every other reality, Shiro wouldn't have been so close to him, his cold-blooded body nestled cozily in his arms as they discussed their deepest insecurities.

A startled shout broke the trance that had settled over Slav, and he looked to Shiro just in time to see him spring from his arms.  A sudden anxiety filled Slav: worries that he had upset Shiro, that he had read the atmosphere wrong, that he had crossed the line.

But his panic was replaced by an empty confusion as Shiro's small, black body began to pulse with a golden glow.  Slav found himself unable to look away as the pulses grew wider and more magnificent, the sparkling light illuminating the entire castle garden.

Something so magical could only happen in one reality.

Through the golden light, Slav could see that Shiro's body was transforming.  It grew, molding into an entirely different shape.

Webbed feet became long, thin appendages attached to muscular, tanned legs.  His short arms grew in length and thickness, until bulging biceps left Slav's mouth watering.  His other arm became a solid mass of metal, gleaming silver mixing with gold and speckling the area around them with reflected stars.  His formless body became a shapely torso with well-defined abs and a thicc neck.  But it was the head that enraptured Slav's attention the most.  The once beady, black eyes became a glistening gray, set atop a scarred nose and a luscious, tantalizing mouth.  His jaw was so sharp it could probably cut someone, and atop his head sat a white tuft of hair that hung freely, whipping gently in the nonexistent breeze that seemed to caress his body.

When the golden light faded, Slav was left facing a hunk of meaty man muscle, so hard yet so soft and tender.  Their eyes widened at the same time, meeting each other's gazes.  Shiro's face was full of fear and apprehension, as if Slav might be afraid of him.

"I…" Shiro started, his newly formed lips working the words uncomfortably.

"Is this…" Slav said, cocking his head to the side, "…the real you?"

Shiro glanced down at himself, taking in his entirely naked and entirely human body.  He rubbed his metallic arm across his torso, as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.  Then he lifted his gaze and looked directly at Slav.  "I…I'm sorry," he said, his voice so filled with remorse that it brought tears to Slav's eyes.

"Why are you apologizing?" Slav asked, eyes narrowing in concern.  "Do you believe that, of all the realities that could have played out, that I would be unsatisfied with this one?"

"W-well," Shiro stammered.

"In this reality, I don't just love you for your body," Slav asserted, but then he realized exactly what he had said.  Clamping all eight of his hands over his beak, he could feel himself turn an unsightly shade of green as he blushed furiously.  "I—!  I mean—!"

Shiro lifted both of his arms in a soothing, "calm down" motion, quirking a smile on his lips as he watched Slav flounder to correct himself.  "Hey, it's okay.  I think…I think I love you, too."

"Y—you do?" Slav asked, dropping his eight hands to rest at his side.  "But there was only a 6% chance of you reciprocating my feelings in this reality!"

Shiro chuckled as he made his way back to Slav, his legs shaky as he accustomed himself to walking upright once again.  "That's still greater than a 0% chance, you know."

Slav looked up into Shiro's sparkling, gray eyes.  "You're right."

Shiro's smile grew until it was a wide, warm grin.  It stretched his handsome scar across his face and Slav fell in love all over again.

"This reality just might be the best one out there," Slav said, incredulous to his own words.  Of all the time he had spent worrying about other realities, he had forgotten that _this_ was his reality, that he was existing in this world, with so much beauty and magic.  In any other reality, he might never have found Shiro.  He might never have confessed his feelings.  He might never have shared a kiss.

But the other realities didn't matter anymore, because it was _this_ reality where he had done all those things, _and_ it was this reality where Shiro loved him back.

Slav launched himself into Shiro's large, glorious arms, wrapping his noodle body around the man he loved.  "I love you in this reality," he whispered softly into Shiro's ear, his chin antennae brushing against his jawline, "and that's all that matters."

**Author's Note:**

> i hate myself,,
> 
> talk to me about shlav @ starryklance.tumblr.com


End file.
